Profile of caregivers by type of housing of their care receiver

View the most recent version.

Archived Content

Information identified as archived is provided for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. It is not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards and has not been altered or updated since it was archived. Please "contact us" to request a format other than those available.

Archived

This page has been archived on the Web.

Women are more likely to be caregivers, regardless of the type of housing. However, the proportion of female caregivers did not vary depending on the type of housing of their primary care receiver.

Caregivers of seniors living in a care facility were more likely to have a care receiver aged 85 and over than caregivers of seniors living in a private household. The results show that caregivers of seniors in a care facility are themselves older.

In 2012, approximately 50% of caregivers of seniors living in a care facility or in supportive housing were aged 55 or over. In comparison, this was the case among 30% of caregivers of seniors in a separate private household (Table A.1).

Table A.1
Characteristics of caregivers whose primary care receiver is a senior, by type of housing of primary care receiver, 2012
Table summary
This table displays the results of Table A.1 Characteristics of caregivers whose primary care receiver is a senior Care facility (ref.), Supportive housing, At home, separate households and At home, shared household, calculated using percentage units of measure (appearing as column headers).

	Care facility (ref.)	Supportive housing	At home, separate households	At home, shared household
	percentage
Sex of caregiver
Male	46	44	47	45
Female	54	56	53	55
Age of caregiver
15 to 24	9Note E: Use with caution	10Note E: Use with caution	13	12
25 to 34	10Note E: Use with caution	10Note E: Use with caution	10	12Note E: Use with caution
35 to 44	7	5Note E: Use with caution Note *	16Note *	12
45 to 54	22	24	31Note *	19
55 to 64	32	36	20Note *	16Note *
65 to 74	15	11Note *	7Note *	16
75 and over	4Note E: Use with caution	4Note E: Use with caution	3	12Note *
Employment status of caregiver
Working or looking for paid work	59	62	67Note *	46Note *
In school	8Note E: Use with caution	6Note E: Use with caution	10	10Note E: Use with caution
Retired	27	23	14Note *	28
Other	7	9Note E: Use with caution Note *	9Note *	15
Educational attainment
Less than a high school diploma	11	8Note E: Use with caution	12	18Note *
High school diploma	26	21Note *	27	32
Some postsecondary studies, no degree	31	41Note *	34	28
University degree	32	31	27Note *	22Note *
Immigrant status
No	89	92	88	74Note *
Yes	11	8Note E: Use with caution	12	26Note *
Presence of children
No	74	70	59	80
Yes, but only aged 15 to 24	14	15	16	8Note E: Use with caution Note *
Yes, children aged 14 and under	12	15	25Note *	13
E use with caution Note * significantly different from reference category (ref.) Return to note * referrer Source: Statistics Canada, General Social Survey, 2012.

Since seniors in care facilities were older, caregivers of care receivers living in a care facility were more likely to be retired (27%, compared with 14% of caregivers of a care receiver in a private household). They were also less likely to be taking care of both their children and an aging senior (or to be considered ‘sandwiched’ between caregiving and child rearing). In fact, 12% of caregivers of seniors living in a care facility had a child aged 14 or under, compared with 15% of those taking care of seniors living in supportive housing and 25% of those who helped seniors living in a separate private household.

Immigrants were also more strongly represented among caregivers of seniors living in the same household (26%, compared with 11% of those whose care receiver lived in a care facility). Immigrant seniors are more than twice as likely to live with relatives as non-immigrant seniors.^Note 1 They are therefore much more likely to receive help or care from a person who shared the same household (for example, their spouse or partner, children or grandchildren).

Notes